The Forests of Osilias
by xxBowtiesAreCoolxx
Summary: When the TARDIS crew are left stranded on a desolate forest-based planet, they discover the crash site of an Earth space shuttle far too advanced for the planet's current time period to even have been built yet. But while searching for answers, they were completely unaware of the fact that they weren't alone on the planet...
1. Chapter 1

The air was filled with a thick fog, and the area surrounded by tall trees. The trees were old and pieces of bark were constantly falling off and blowing around in the wind which made trying to see in the dark not so fun. Clara carefully made her way around the chipped tree stumps and fallen logs in her path, slowly walking further forwards towards the oddly shaped object hanging from a thin tree branch a few metres in front of her. The longer she wandered around in the dark, the more her eyes began to adjust.

She'd gotten to sleep a lot faster tonight, no kids around to keep her up at hours that no one should even be awake at. The Maitland's father had gone out of town to visit some relatives so Angie and Artie had slept over at their friend's houses for the night. She loved the kids, but was glad to have the night to herself and regain the hours of sleep she'd lost in the months she had been living with the family. It'd been ages since Clara had even had a dream, but she remembered what they were like. They were confusing, creepy even. They made little to no sense. But there was something different about this one, she had a strange feeling that it was actually trying to tell her something – warn her of something. She brushed off those feelings and thoughts and kept walking.

As she got closer to the tree, she began to recognize the item hanging off it.

When she finally reached the tree, she smiled at the red, almost bucket shaped object and took it from the branch. At this moment she knew the Doctor would be proud of her. She slipped the fez onto her head and kept walking.

She could never get away from her alien friend. Not even in her own dreams. This is usually the part in horror movies where something really bad happens, she thought to herself. In those moments when everything is "peaceful and quiet" – or appears to be. As if on command, she heard a large thump behind her and quickly turned around. She saw a silhouetted figure running in the opposite direction to her, as if it wasn't supposed to be seen. She decided against going after it. As she walked further into the forest, everything she could see when she looked back was starting to fade away. The sky, all the trees even the ground she'd recently walked on, and if that wasn't strange enough she could also hear a quiet buzzing sound, one that was gradually getting louder. She kept walking forward, constantly looking behind her only to see more of her surroundings fading away. She frowned. 'Really ? Why can't just _one_ of my dreams make even a small bit of sense?'

She began running at a decent pace, not wanting to be swallowed up by the white light that was quickly catching up to her. Her dream couldn't end yet, she had a hunch that there was still something her dream needed to get across to her. _Too bad_ , the forest was probably thinking at that moment. She could suddenly hear the buzzing noise again. She took a quick glance behind her and saw a bright green light in the distance, fast moving towards her. Confused, she started running fast away from it. Within seconds there was a flash of bright light. Clara suddenly found herself not being able to move. Like her feet were stuck in place. She half-closed her eyes so they wouldn't be affected by the light. She took a final look back and saw a shadowy figure running towards her holding out a familiar looking object. The top of the object threw out a massive beam of green light. Clara now knew who it was. "Wait, Doct.."

Clara jolted upright in bed, quickly covering her ears. "Doctor turn it off, please!" she yelled at him, and he quickly took his finger off the button. "Sorry.." he said, pushing the top of the sonic screwdriver back in place. She sleepily threw her head back onto the pillow and opened her eyes. "What've I said about going into my mind without permission?" she said, looking at him with a tired, slightly mad expression. "Ah..." the Doctor smiled awkwardly. "Interesting dream you were having", he said, throwing his sonic up in the air and catching it. She glared at him. "Why are you here?" The Doctor put the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket. "Breakfast's in the kitchen, I'll explain later" he said, running downstairs.

Clara groaned and got out of bed, still feeling half asleep. She staggered downstairs, holding onto the railing for support and rubbing her sleepy head and sat down on the chair closest to the doorway. The Doctor smiled and brought over a plate of toast, sitting it in front of her on the table. She smiled at him but became confused when she looked down at the plate. He sat down and picked up the newspaper, flipping the page over. Still half smiling, she slowly looked up at him with a look of confusion on her face. "problem?, he asked. She held the plate up to him.

"Hey would you look at that, your team's getting better" he said glancing at the football scores from last week's game. He looked the plate up and down. "Have you ever _actually_ cooked toast before?" she asked. He laughed, "Course I have, why do you a..". She passed him the plate. "The toast, it's still frozen" she said smiling awkwardly. The Doctor frowned. Clara lightly punched him on the shoulder, "You still haven't answered my question" she said having a sip of her surprisingly alright tasting tea.

"Oh right, what am I doing here, and my answer to that is take a look outside". She raised an eyebrow and looked out the window to the backyard. She smiled to a cheerful looking Jenny leaning against a blue box who gave her a half wave and smiled back. "Got a trip planned?" Clara asked grinning. The Doctor jumped up from the chair. "See you in five", he said smiling and ran off back to his TARDIS.

Clara raised an eyebrow and swallowed the rest of her tea. "Right". She got up and ran upstairs to get her things ready. Luckily Angie and Artie had friends to stay with so she didn't have any explaining to do, or any kids she had to babysit. She remembered the time when her and The Doctor had taken the kids for what was supposed to be a "quick, fun day out for the kids" in one of the biggest and the best amusement parks ever to be built in outer space, but that turned into a fight for their lives in a war against one of the most advanced, and dangerous alien-robot races to ever have been created. She couldn't even begin to imagine what might happen if they'd wanted to come along with them this time. She returned a few minutes later dressed in appropriate clothing for time travel and a bag containing a few things, including her laptop. Were there available Wi-Fi connections in the TARDIS? She laughed to herself.

What am I saying? The Doctor could probably get my laptop to connect to the internet if we were stranded on an asteroid...Not that I wouldn't have more important things to worry about if we were stranded on a floating rock orbiting the sun. She left a note on the table for the Maitland's letting them know where she'd gone. 'I've gone travelling with a few friends' was roughly the story she went with. Although she knew the kids would understand. They had, after all been into space with her and the Doctor before.

She got outside and ran up to the TARDIS, not even having to knock. Strax pushed the door slightly open so he could only just see through to the other side. Being the Sontaran that he was, his logical thinking skills were slightly lacking, unlike the rest of his race. He walked over to the side of the TARDIS console where his gun was leaning, picked it up and cautiously made his way outside with it. Jenny eyed him off; smiling because she could see what was coming to him. He held his gun up to Clara who didn't seem the slightest bit alarmed by this and gave her a threatening look, expecting some kind of response.

The Doctor, seeing this let out a deep sigh, walked straight out the door and took the gun from Strax, whose mouth quickly dropped open. "Strax, for goodness sake" the Doctor said, taking Clara's arm and pulling her into the TARDIS. Strax stood still for a few seconds, mouth still open looking like a dog that'd just had their entire bowl of food taken off them before they had a chance to eat any. Strax stomped up to the Doctor and attempted to take back his gun. The Doctor, realising this before Strax had even had a chance to think of it threw the gun to Vastra who threatened to throw Strax's entire collection of grenades into a supernova if he tried to take it back. Strax, no longer in a good mood slumped down onto the hard floor of the TARDIS console room, pretending not to care that threats were just made on his beloved grenade collection.

Clara walked over to Jenny and the two talked for a bit while the Doctor started setting co-ordinates for their trip to; well, wherever they were going. Clara didn't see Jenny and the others very often so she was interested to hear about what the gang had been up to. The Doctor frowned and tapped on the console panel softly with his screwdriver. The others looked up, realising that something was delaying their trip, "Problem?" Vastra asked walking over. The Doctor patted the console. The TARDIS lit up for a minute and made a quiet ringing sound. "Controls have gone a bit wibbly. I can't seem to get her to dematerialise" The Doctor was prepared to go get the TARDIS control manual from the storage room, but quickly turned to Clara and Jenny who were now both grinning. Clara laughed, "No wonder".

Jenny pointed to Strax who had wandered a level down and was now fiddling with a pile of wires he had found underneath the TARDIS console. The Doctor rubbed his eyes and exchanged looks with the two girls who were standing a few feet in front of him laughing at his misfortune. He quickly ran downstairs, taking the pile of wires from Strax and gesturing for him to go back to the others. When the Doctor had returned to the main console area he looked at Strax disapprovingly. "Sometimes I wonder if the Sontarans cloned an oversized potato" Jenny and Clara both smiled.

The Doctor rearranged the mess of wires Strax had pulled up on the level below, and ran back upstairs to see if he'd fixed the problem. He began entering co-ordinates for their trip while the others waited anxiously. "So what's the deal?" Clara asked. Jenny turned around, giving her a puzzled look. "Well I mean something's got to be happening, that's why he invited you guys right?" Jenny smiled. "Guess we'll find out won't we?" Clara wandered over and stood beside the Doctor, "all fixed?" she asked, taking a quick glance at Strax who was sitting against the railing close to the door of the console room frowning. "Only one way we're gonna find out" he said, reaching over to the lever closest to him and pulling it straight forward. For the first few moments nothing happened. The five of them just stood there in silence, exchanging awkward glances over the fact that nothing seemed to be happening. Clara broke the silence, "So, I'm going to take that as a n..."

her sentence was cut off when the console abruptly threw out a massive blinding spark, along with several others, causing the entire room to shake and throwing her and The Doctor onto the hard console room floor. Every light in the room went out and the low, peaceful humming sound of the TARDIS went silent. The others, who had steadied themselves on the railing looked around the now almost completely dark room trying to figure out what had happened.

 ** _So ... first chapter! Feel free to leave a review let me know what you think!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**-OSILIAS FOREST, YEAR 2050-**

 _ **[Earth Shuttle Delta-5]**_

Capt. Everhart walked down the seemingly endless corridor connecting her quarters to those of the ship's crew members, struggling to keep her head upright. She'd had a late night writing up reports and organising bridge shifts for the rest of the week, so she was feeling pretty lethargic. "Hey captain", she continued walking but turned her head around to see who had talked to her. "Oh, Commander Barrett", she gave him a weak smile and kept walking. "You feeling alright captain? You look a little beat" he said concerned. "I'm fine commander, just a little short on sleep" she said rubbing her head. He grinned at her and put a hand on her shoulder; "Let me guess, report reviewing night?" he asked. "How did you guess?"

Barrett laughed, walking in front and turning around to face her. "We've all been there, now go and get some sleep Esther" he said, stopping her from walking forward any further. She shook her head. "No, it's fine Barrett, that wouldn't be fair. Your shift doesn't start for another five hours" she pointed out. "Captain, you don't look like you're going to be able to stay _awake_ for another five hours" he teased. "Please, go back to your quarters and get some rest" he insisted. "Are you sure?" she asked, a relieved look across her face. He smiled and gestured for her to walk back to her quarters, "Yeah, I'll take care of things on the bridge"

She took her communicator out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Be my guest", she said grinning. He took the device from her hand and turned left in the corridor, heading for the bridge. "Oh, and Barrett...I owe you one" she said before she turned around and began walking back to her quarters. Barrett smiled to himself and continued down the hallway. The captain always worked extremely hard, often pushed herself and he thought he'd give her the chance to get some extra rest whenever he could. She deserved it.

When she reached her room she changed out of her uniform and slumped down onto the bed, glad to get some extra time to recover the hours of sleep she'd lost the previous night while having to deal with so many medical and engineering reports. The low humming of the ship's engines was quite relaxing, and it wasn't every day she was able to lie down and listen to such sounds when she was supposed to be working. She was grateful to Barrett for taking over for her though, even though he didn't have a shift scheduled for the next few hours.

She pulled the blankets up to her chin and threw her head back onto the soft memory foam pillow sitting at the front of the row of pillows on her bed. When she closed her eyes she thought back to when the shuttle first took off from Earth base and her crew was saying their goodbyes to their families, before they took off on their twelve year mission exploring the corners of space that humans for years had only dreamt of being able to visit. She remembered how she felt being in charge of such a large crew for the first time in her life. She remembered how nervous she was, but also how excited she became through her academy years at the prospect of commanding a ship full of people who over time would gain respect for her, and who would become lifelong friends. All those years of training and sitting through boring lectures had finally begun to pay off. This ship was her second home, and although she really missed her family and friends back on Earth, she couldn't give up an opportunity like this. Her thoughts were interrupted when her room began to tremble slightly. Barely noticeable, but enough to get her slightly worried. After a few seconds the trembling stopped and she began to drift off, thoughts of her academy years still running through her head.

A few hours had passed, and Esther's sleep had been completely uninterrupted since the minor tremors. Finally, she opened her eyes and sat up in bed, shifting her pillow as well as herself into a comfortable position. She felt refreshed, and surprisingly energetic. I must remember to thank Barrett again the next time I see him, she was thinking to herself. As if on command, her door rang and she had a feeling she knew who it was. She smiled and got up out of bed.

The TARDIS console room was lightless. The only sound that could be heard was the low humming of the engines, which was becoming weaker and quieter as more time passed. The Doctor put a hand on the console for support and lifted himself up, barely able to see anything. He took his sonic screwdriver from inside his jacket pocket, and tried to operate it in the dark. He adjusted the settings, and within seconds the top of the screwdriver lit up, throwing beams of bright green light around the room. He looked towards the other side of the console and saw a confused looking Jenny, Vastra and Strax standing there, staring at him. "Everyone alright?" he asked, sitting the screwdriver down on the control panel where it wouldn't fall over. Jenny walked over to him, "Yeah, but Clara's looked better" she said.

The Doctor spun around and saw Clara leaning against the doorway with her head resting in her hands, trembling slightly. He walked over and put a hand on her head. She looked up and gave him a half smile. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, taking her arms and pulling her up off the ground. "Yeah, I'm fine" she said holding onto the railing and looking over at the others. "What went wrong?" she asked. The Doctor shook his head, "I don't know, I can't say anything like that has ever happened before. Not without some sort of outside influence" he answered, walking over to the console to see if any of the controls would respond. "Any way of getting the lights back on?" Clara asked. The Doctor shrugged and continued trying to get any of the controls or systems back on. Strax finally spoke up, "May I suggest-" Jenny slowly shook her head, "No Strax" she said, having a feeling she knew where that sentence would lead. Strax kept his mouth shut.

Finally, after about twenty minutes of waiting, he was able to get the lights back on. Now with the combined light of the sonic screwdriver and the lights in the console room, it was a bit blinding. Clara tapped him on the shoulder, "Uh, when I said lights..." she said covering her eyes with one hand. The others were doing the same. "I'm going to have to agree" Vastra said. The Doctor turned the bright light being produced by his screwdriver off and slid it back into his pocket. "Sorry..." he said awkwardly.

"Enter" Esther said, walking over to the door. The door opened and revealed a familiar face, standing in the doorway smiling at her. "Hello Barrett" she said returning the smile. She gestured for him to come in as she picked up her uniform and sat it on the end of the bed. "Have a good rest?" he asked. "Yeah, great actually. Thanks again" she said. He put up a hand, "No need, you deserved the extra time" he said as he turned to exit the room. "Any problems?" she asked when she saw him leaving. "No, actually" he said.

"The opposite in fact" he said grinning. Her face was showing off her confusion, "Meaning?" she asked. "We've discovered a new planet. Not a single mention of a planet anything like it in the data banks" he said walking off back down the doorway. Captain Everhart stood in the doorway for a few seconds as her excitement began to kick in. "A new planet?" she asked herself, closing the door. She immediately picked up her uniform and proceeded to get ready for what could most likely be the most exciting thing that had happened that month.

Clara and the others were sitting on the steps, waiting while the Doctor attempted to get all the TARDIS's systems back in working order. They were getting pretty restless. Finally, Clara stood up and walked over to the Doctor."Can't we just, you know; take a look outside?" she asked. He looked surprised that she'd even suggested it. "I mean, you could spend hours trying to get the control systems back up. So, why not?" Clara asked. She'd become tired of standing around waiting for something to happen that might take longer than any of them could stand. The looks on the others' faces suggested they agreed with her. She does have a point, he thought to himself. He thought about it for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

"I suppose you're right, and wherever we are...well for all we know it could have something to do with what happened to the TARDIS" he said. "I mean, unless complete system failure is a regular thing for you" she said. "Actually, I wouldn't be entirely surprised; with your piloting skills" she said, receiving a glare back from the Doctor. "Well, I'm glad that's settled", Jenny said standing up and walking over to the others. Vastra joined them, "When do we leave?"

Captain Everhart made her way to the bridge, preparing herself for what could likely be one of the most exciting finds of their voyage so far. As soon as she arrived on the bridge she saw it. There it was. Shadows covered one side of the planet, leaving the vibrant, bright green plant life visible on the other side to stand out as sunlight stretched out across the planet, uncovering the other side and giving them a full view of the planet. It revealed a beautiful, healthy looking planet filled with plant life. It was the most amazing thing Esther had ever seen in her life, and she felt privileged to be witnessing what was unfolding on the viewing screen; as well as outside the ship. "Amazing, isn't it?" Barrett asked.

"Yeah, it is", Esther said smiling. She walked further forward to get a better view of what was happening outside the ship. "I wish I could go down there" she said. Barrett turned to face her, "Why not?"

She looked at him, surprised. "Really?" she asked, hopeful. He shrugged, "I'm sure a slight course change wouldn't hurt if you wanted to spend a few hours on the planet" he said. "In fact, I'd be more than happy to go with you", Barrett said happily. Unable to stop herself, Esther pulled Barrett into a hug, laughing with joy. Realising that was probably inappropriate behaviour for the captain of a space shuttle, she let go of the commander, straightening her uniform but still keeping her excited grin visible. Barrett just laughed and shook his head at her reaction. He was glad to see her this happy though. The last time he'd seen her in such a good mood was at last year's Christmas party, when she'd had a bit too much to drink.

Her happiness was soon taken from her though, when the ship began to tremble again, like it had when Esther was trying to sleep the previous night. Even though the two events obviously had to be unrelated, she still had a bad feeling about their situation this time. "Commander, what's happening?" she asked, beginning to worry. "I'm not sure" he answered. He walked over to the scanners and was getting strange readings from an unknown source down on the planet. They couldn't be related to what was happening though, so it didn't matter. The slight trembling began turning quite violent, and everyone aboard the bridge suddenly found themselves having to hold onto something sturdy for support. Esther began to get a horrible feeling in her stomach. She felt sick. She had no idea what to do, and her crew were panicking. She would have to think of something quickly though, as the situation seemed to be escalating pretty quickly. There were kids aboard the shuttle. Several crew members had brought their families along. Those with wives and kids who didn't think they'd be able to go twelve years without them. Which was understandable. "Captain, Commander, the two of you should probably buckle up", a young voice said. "Yes, thank you Riley" Esther answered. "I think a ship wide red alert is in order, don't you think captain?" he asked. She nodded. "I'm on it", Riley said at once. Riley was a young boy they'd taken along with them when they left Earth two years ago. He was the son of the chief engineer of the shuttle, and for that reason he was granted access to the bridge on a daily basis to see what went on in the most interesting room aboard the shuttle. He was a very intelligent young boy, and often helped out on the bridge when extra hands were needed.

Everhart and Barrett walked over to the two remaining seats on the bridge and buckled themselves in. The shuttle was now shaking quite violently, and no one aboard the bridge seemed to know what was happening. "Well, looks like you're going to get your wish" Barrett said, pointing to the viewing screen. The shuttle was heading directly for the planet below, at an alarming speed. "I didn't want it like this" Esther said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Although she was the ship's captain, she was still only 35 years old. She wasn't prepared for something like this to happen, and didn't know what to do. Barrett felt guilty for his comment; he rested a hand on hers and gave her a reassuring look. "We'll make it out of this" he said. "I promise"

"Captain, we're heading straight for the planet. I don't think we'll be able to stop the shuttle in time", the ship's navigator Naomi Blackwood pointed out. Esther nodded. "It's okay, you all did your best...It was a pleasure and honour knowing you all" she said, tears now rolling freely down her cheeks. Everyone aboard the bridge showed their respects by saluting their captain. This was it, she thought to herself. The crash was inevitable. Now she would never get to see the planet. Only before she went crashing straight into it. At least she got a beautiful sight before she died, but all she could think about was the fact that she was never going to see her family again. She'd never had the chance to tell her family how much they really meant to her. She tried to brush those thoughts off, she was sure they'd know how much she cared about them. She held Barrett's hand and closed her eyes. He squeezed her hand in his and did the same. "Thanks for everything", she said; before everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to get the chapter uploaded, but I haven't had a lot of time to work on it. On the plus side it is the longest chapter so far. Anyway, here it is :P hope you enjoy it!**_

Before they left the TARDIS to find out where it'd landed—or rather crashed them, the Doctor wanted to make sure they wouldn't be walking into somewhere dangerous. Especially if they'd drifted off into space… because that would be bad, he thought to himself. Since he'd gotten all of them into this mess, he owed it to them to get them home safely. He was also pretty intimidated by the glare he was receiving from Vastra while he ran from one side of the console to the other, which was understandable since they'd all been waiting in the TARDIS for several hours, hoping _something_ would happen. He took a quick glance at the scanner, and satisfied that everything seemed safe enough; he walked over to the doors and opened them slightly.

He looked over his shoulder at the others. "Stay here for a minute" he said, before slowly stepping outside the TARDIS. Clara folded her arms. She looked over at Vastra, Jenny and Strax who looked completely drained. _I can't blame them_ , she thought to herself.

"Right, that's our queue to leave" she said, picking up her bag and jacket and walking towards the doors. Jenny stood up and looked at her, confused "Huh?" They were surprised at how quick she was to disobey the Doctor's orders, but were happy to follow her outside. Clara didn't like it when he told her to stay in the TARDIS while he checked everything was 'safe'. She thought he was probably just being overprotective.

As soon as she stepped out of the TARDIS doors, Clara was immediately left stunned by what she saw. Surrounding her were tall, bright-leaved trees that were given added emphasis by the sunlight that was shining through in between the branches. The ground looked as if no one had ever walked on it. Leaves that had fallen off the trees were completely untouched, and rain water that had recently fallen gave extra effect to the leaves hanging from the lower tree branches. The Doctor, who was just as mesmerized as she was walked back and stood beside her. "What do you think?" he asked, but the smile and happiness spread across her face said it all. After all the horrible things she'd seen happen on other alien planets; this was a nice change. He offered a hand, and she took it, still smiling.

The others, who had just joined them, were completely caught up in what they were seeing. All except for Strax, who seemed completely uninterested; as usual. "It's amazing", Jenny said. "Yes, I rather agree" Vastra added.

The Doctor nodded, "Nice day for a walk" he said grinning. "Shall we?" he asked. Clara nodded, and walked alongside him, the other three following close behind them. As they started walking further into the forest, the five of them (well, not so much Strax) began to enjoy not having anything to worry about for once. No creepy women with even more disturbing creatures living on them trying to poison the population, no imminent world domination threats from advanced alien races, things had finally calmed down for them. "At last…" Clara said smirking.

"At last what?" the Doctor asked. "At last you've taken me somewhere that I'm not likely to get chased, shot at, lost, kidnapped, or…", he shot her a slightly embarrassed look. "Ok, ok I get your point" he said, lightly punching her shoulder in revenge. Vastra and Jenny just shook their heads and kept walking. He knew she was right, their travels together were pretty dangerous, but the Doctor didn't want to be made fun of in front of the others.

As they were walking, the feeling of _déjà vu_ Clara had experienced when she first stepped onto the planet was beginning to return. She hadn't said anything because she was almost too fascinated by what she was seeing around her to even notice.

There was something about the area they were in that just sort of…clicked. She couldn't think of what it was, but there was something strangely familiar about the forest. She didn't think the Doctor would take her seriously anyway, so there would be no point in telling him.

While they were walking, Clara suddenly slowed down, releasing her grip from the Doctor's hand. The others paused behind her, and the Doctor turned around to see why she'd stopped. "What's wrong?" Jenny asked. Clara looked down in front of her and suddenly found her legs had given way beneath her. "Clara!" he caught her before she could fall to the ground. "You alright?" he asked, helping her to her feet. She nodded, her eyes fixed a few feet in front of them. "Oh my god", Jenny had walked over beside them and was looking down towards a large puddle of blood, trailing even further into the direction they'd been walking towards. "Oh…I see", the Doctor said.

Vastra walked over and kneeled beside the worryingly large puddle of blood. "It appears to still be fresh" she said. "Someone-or _something_ with quite serious injuries has walked through here; and not long ago by the looks of things." The Doctor nodded in agreement. Strax straightened himself, "may I suggest a—-", Jenny interrupted him; once again before he could finish his sentence. "Strax please, not now." Frowning, he lowered his head. "We should probably keep going" the Doctor said, taking Clara by the arm and cautiously walking forwards in the direction of the blood trail. "Hey, you sure you're up to it?" He asked. Clara nodded. "Because if not you can always go back to the TARDIS." She shook her head. "How many hours did we just spend in there?" she asked. He thought about it for a moment "Yeah…good point."

They'd been walking for about five minutes and the trail of blood still went on further into the forest, as if someone had been badly injured and dragged themselves across the ground for several metres. And to make things worse, Strax had gotten into full soldier mode and was in front of the group with his gun that he'd sneaked out of the TARDIS without anyone realizing, his short stubby legs only just keeping him ahead of the group.

When the trail finally ended, the five of them stopped to look at what they could see up ahead. A few feet in front of them the body of a humanoid creature lay motionless in the grass. Cautiously, the Doctor made his way over to the wounded figure, gesturing for the others to stay back. He kneeled down beside the creature, scanning for life signs with his sonic and trying to find out exactly what it was. Clara slowly walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, kneeling down next to him. "What is it?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I'm not sure, I'll tell you this though, it may look human; but it's not." The creature's skin was completely smooth. Its eyes, although it was dead were wide open, revealing bright yellow circles surrounded by darkness. It had the same number of limbs as a human, but its arms and legs were possibly a fraction longer. It looked almost like a blueprint for what a human would look like, an unfinished plan. "We should probably go" the Doctor said, standing up. Clara nodded and stood up. Without warning, the creature jolted upright and grabbed Clara by the neck, pulling her onto the ground. She screamed as it shoved her forcefully onto the ground, causing the others to quickly turn around and realize what had happened. "Clara! Doctor, I thought you said that thing was dead" Jenny yelled. "Yeah, I thought it was!"

Jenny and Vastra ran over and took the creature by the arms, pulling it off Clara, trying to hold it still as it struggled in their grip. It tried to lash out again, but they held on to it tightly. The two quickly stepped back as a beam of blue light hit the creature in the chest, causing it to fall to the ground. They turned around and stared in shock at Strax, who lowered his gun. "STRAX! What were you thinking?" Vastra yelled, looking down at the now lifeless body of the creature. Clara laid still on the ground, coughing and struggling to breathe after being held firmly onto the ground by her neck. The Doctor ran over and knelt next to her on the grass, gently pulling her upright so she could breathe properly. "Clara, you alright?" he asked, gently rubbing her back. She nodded weakly and rested her head back on the ground.

He placed a hand on her head before standing up and walking over to Strax, then looking down at the body of the creature. "Was that _really_ necessary, Strax?" Strax straightened himself and looked the Doctor in the eyes. "The creature would have killed Miss Clara if I had not intervened; sir". Jenny shot him an unimpressed look, "We had it Strax." "Yes, of course."

"Strax, you had no right. This planet does not belong to us; we simply wanted to stop the creature from harming her and perhaps ask it some questions. We did _not_ have the intention of killing it" Vastra explained. "My apologies" Strax said. They all stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"We should go" the Doctor said. "We clearly didn't know what we were getting ourselves into when we came here." He walked over to Clara and lifted her into his arms, after finding she'd fallen asleep lying on the ground. He walked to where the creature was laying on the ground; unmoving. Slightly disgusted, he gave it a last look and kept walking forward through the forest. The others followed close behind.

None of them said anything to each other for the first few minutes while they were walking. "Where exactly are we going?" Jenny whispered to Vastra, not wanting to be the one to break the awkward silence in the group. Vastra shook her head, "I'm not sure."

"Hey, what's that?" Jenny asked aloud. The Doctor turned around, "What is it?" Jenny pointed through a gap in the trees ahead of them. In the distance there was a visible gleam of light bouncing off something metallic. "Don't know…" the Doctor said. "Let's find out" he said smiling. Jenny shrugged and ran ahead a little so that she was walking next to the Doctor. "What do you think it might be?" she asked. "Don't know. It's more fun not knowing" he said grinning. Strax tapped the Doctor on the shoulder, "Sir, I would advise caution—" Clara reached her hand to her neck and winced, quickly dropping it back down. The Doctor gestured for Strax to be quiet so she could rest.

"Sorry sir" Strax whispered. They finally reached the object they could see in the distance. Jenny stood still next to the Doctor, "Whoa…" she said. The Doctor nodded. "Uh…yeah, pretty much" he said. A few metres in front of them the damaged remains of a shuttle sat buried a few feet under the surface, a lot of the land and plant life around the crash site disturbed and no clear signs that anyone had survived the destruction of the ship. "What happened here?" Jenny asked. The Doctor shook his head, "I'm not sure." "Where could it have come from?" Vastra asked. The Doctor carefully laid Clara down on the ground and walked over to the remains of the ship. He could see faint writing under the thick layer of dirt and dust on the side of the shuttle. He brushed it off with his hand to reveal large, barely readable text; it read _'Earth shuttlecraft_ _ **Delta-5**_ _'._ "It's an Earth ship" the Doctor said stepping to the side to allow the rest of the group read what was written on the side of the craft. "How can you be sure?" Vastra asked. The Doctor pointed to the writing on the side of the ship. "We can't read that from here" Jenny said. "Then come and have a look" the Doctor said gesturing for them to walk closer to the ship. "What do you think happened to it?" Vastra asked. The Doctor shrugged and began scanning the craft with his screwdriver, "Engine malfunction maybe? There's no way we can be sure" he answered. "Come on, you can do better than that" Jenny said. "Probably right" the Doctor said grinning.

Clara could hear the four of them talking. She opened her eyes and tilted her head to the side, regretting it soon after. "Ugh…" She managed to sit up, and could see the others in the distance walking around the crash site of a large shuttlecraft. _How did I get here?_ She thought to herself. Her head was throbbing, but she managed to pull herself off the ground. She started walking over to the others, still feeling pretty light-headed. The Doctor finished his scan of the ship and saw her walking unsteadily towards them. "Clara?" She made it about half way before losing her balance and falling to the ground. The Doctor ran over and took her arms, gently pulling her up off the ground. "Hey, you ok?" he asked brushing the dirt off her. She nodded. "Yeah, thanks. Just a little dizzy." "So uh, how'd I get here?" she asked. "You don't remember? Well, there was this enormous talking tree—" Clara lightly punched his shoulder. "What did I say?" "Don't be an idiot" she said smirking. He put an arm around her and helped her walk over to where the others were. "Hey Clara" Jenny said cheerfully. Clara smiled at her, "Hey."

"Here you go" the Doctor said, sitting her down on a large stone a few feet away from the shuttle. "Thanks; so what's with all this?" she asked looking around the crash site. "We're not sure yet, we were planning on exploring the wreckage of the ship once you're feeling a bit better." "What? No, don't bother waiting for me, you lot can go ahead" she said. The Doctor shook his head, "No, I'm not leaving you out here by yourself. Not after what just happened." "Fine" she said, jumping down from the rock. "Let's go now then." "Yeah, I don't thin—" She cut him off before he could protest. He shook his head, "Fine, but you're not leaving my sight" he said taking her hand. She smiled and gave him a sarcastic salute.

"You all good to go?" he asked the others. "Yeah" Jenny said. Carefully avoiding sharp pieces of the ship's broken exterior, the five of them made their way to the ship's side entrance and stepped through. Despite the condition of the shuttle, the door still automatically shut itself behind them. Considering how the shuttle looked from the outside, the interior was surprisingly intact. "We could do with some lights" Clara said. Jenny laughed, "Well if that's the biggest problem here, the crew mustn't have much to worry about." "They probably don't have much to worry about if they're dead either" the Doctor added. "Yeah, that's true" Jenny said.

As they walked further into the ship they noticed the two corridors separating the main sections of the ship. "Where do we go?" Clara asked. " _We_ …split up" the Doctor said. Clara raised an eyebrow, "You-are kidding right?" she asked. He smiled and pat her on the head, before he started walking down the corridor on the left side. Clara started walking after him. "Doctor, wai-" Jenny put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. By the time she turned back around he'd already disappeared from view. Jenny gestured for Vastra to go after him. "You better make sure he doesn't do anything stupid" she said. Vastra nodded and began quickly walking off down the corridor to find him, Strax close behind her. "Guess it's just you and me" Jenny said. Clara smiled and took a flashlight out of her bag, "Fancy a walk?" Jenny smiled, and the two headed down the remaining corridor.

"Why are there so many rooms?" Clara asked. "Crew quarters maybe?" Jenny suggested. "Yeah, probably." They stopped at the first door they saw when they turned the corner and tried to open it. "It's jammed" Clara said. Jenny thought for a minute, "Yeah, or locked." Clara attempted to force the door open by pulling it from the edge. "How's _that_ going?" Jenny asked. Clara didn't answer for a moment, "Yeah… nearly… got it." "Really?" Jenny asked. After about a minute Clara finally managed to slide the door open just enough for it to automatically open the rest of the way. "Nice one" Jenny said. Clara pulled a loose piece of metal from the wall, slicing her hand open in the process. "Ah! Wow… that was; not fun."

"What did you do that for?" Jenny asked. Clara shrugged, dropping the metal shard on the ground. "Doesn't look like it was worth sacrificing your hand for, you ok?" "Uh, yeah I think so." Clara slid the piece of metal under the door, jamming it under just in case the door decided to close itself after them. "Right, good idea" Jenny said. "Yeah" Clara agreed. "But you're right, probably not worth it." Clara slid her sleeve over the cut and clutched it with her other hand, wincing slightly. "That gonna be alright?" Jenny asked. "Uh, don't know. I'm hoping so" Clara said. They stepped through the doorway into the room. "I'd expect it to be messier than this. Considering what the ship looks like on the outside" Jenny said. Aside from the paperwork scattered across the floor and the various pieces of furniture that had fallen over, the room had remained pretty much intact.

"You were right, definitely crew quarters" Clara said, pointing to the name plaque on the desk. It read _'Capt. Esther Everhart'._ Jenny nodded, "Must've been a pretty big crew. There are a lot of rooms down here." "So… what do you think happened here?" Clara asked. Jenny shook her head, "I don't have a clue." They continued walking around the room, hoping to find something that might tell them what happened on the day of the crash. "Hey Jenny, do you think anyone survived the crash?" Clara asked. "Well, I hope so" Jenny said.

Vastra and Strax finally caught up to the Doctor, after having to almost run to catch up to him. He spun around, arm outstretched with his sonic screwdriver in his hand shining its bright green light in Vastra and Strax's eyes. Vastra put a hand in front of the light, "Doctor, would you kindly turn that off?" "Whoops, sorry" he said pushing the top of the screwdriver back in. "Here to keep me company?" He asked grinning. "Something like that" Vastra said. "So, shall we go?" The Doctor nodded and started walking off down the hall; Vastra and Strax close behind him.

While they were walking, Vastra had to tell him several times to slow down a bit so that she and Strax didn't have to almost start running to keep up with him. She wasn't surprised though, the Doctor was always getting caught up in things like this. "Ah, this looks interesting" he said stopping in front of a set of double doors at the end of the hall. They looked pretty battered, which was understandable after what the ship and its crew had obviously been through. The Doctor took the sonic out of his pocket and pointed it at the set of doors, immediately opening them.

The three of them stepped through and looked around at the half destroyed bridge of the ship. "Oh…what _has_ been happening here?" the Doctor asked, not expecting anyone to answer. He walked forward a few steps, running his hand along the controls in the centre of the room. "Most of these control panels are beyond repair, viewing screen's covered in cracks and scratches; the ship must have been here for quite a while." Vastra nodded, "Yes, I agree." The bridge was littered with bodies, and most of them looked pretty young. The Doctor was repulsed at the sight of it all, and was determined to find out the cause of the ship and its crew's destruction.

"What do we do now?" Vastra asked. The Doctor took his hand off the panel and turned to face them. "We find out what caused this."


	4. Chapter 4

_[Osilias forest, year 2050]_

Esther could feel sparks of electricity hitting the floor a few feet away from her, which instantly alerted her of the condition of the ship. Her head was throbbing; and she had no memory of what had happened. With both arms she pushed herself up off the ground and glanced around the room, steadying herself on a damaged piece of railing beside her.

She finally realized where she was. It was pretty dark, but she could only just make out the severely damaged remains of the bridge's viewing screen. _Barrett… where's Barrett?_ She looked around the room, trying to find him on the ground but it was too dark to tell which one was him. She was devastated, this ship had been her dream; and now it was completely destroyed, her crew most likely dead and she hadn't been able to do anything about it. _What caused the crash?_ She asked herself. She now remembered everything that happened before the crash. The system malfunctions, the collapse of life support, the engine failure; and her last words to Barrett.

She kneeled down on the ground, tears rolling freely down her face. She didn't know what do to, and it was times like this that she'd always have Barrett to turn to for help. What was she going to do now that he wasn't there with her? She laid down, still crying and closed her eyes.

Clara sat on the ground of the captain's room next to her desk, reading through files of the ship's crew members.

Most of the people who had served on the ship had been quite young, just reading through their files made Clara feel depressed. Jenny could tell she felt torn up reading through the files.

"Tell me if you find something" Jenny said. Clara nodded, "Yeah, sure". She read through the files for a few more minutes before putting the pile back in the drawer, deciding she probably wasn't going to find anything that would be helpful to them. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her hand; she slid her sleeve over her cut and gently pressed her hand against it, wincing slightly. Jenny looked up from the pile of papers she was reading on the desk and shot her a concerned look. "Hey, are you alright?"

Clara shook her head, "I think this is getting worse" she said, standing up and dropping her arm down to her side. Jenny put the pile of papers back down on the desk and walked over to Clara, putting a hand on her shoulder "come on, we should go find the others" she said, walking over to the door and gesturing for Clara to follow her. "And do something about that cut of yours, hey?" Clara nodded and followed Jenny out of the room.

The Doctor finished his scans of the ship's bridge before turning to face Vastra and Strax, "We should go find the others, see if they've learned anything" he said. Vastra nodded; "yes, I rather agree".

"I wonder if the Doctor's found anything" Clara said. Jenny smiled; "Yeah, let's hope he's had better luck than we have". While walking, the two women heard footsteps a bit further ahead of them. "It must be them" Clara said, walking ahead. Jenny caught up and pulled her back, raising an eyebrow. Who-or whatever was ahead of them had gotten closer without them realizing, and when Clara turned around she immediately jumped back; "Oh my stars", Clara put a hand over her eyes and laughed worriedly.

"Think I may have just had a bit of a heart attack" she said smiling. Grinning, the Doctor pulled her into a hug; "yeah, sorry about that. Thought we'd come check up on you, see if you'd found anything". "Yeah… about that" she said, stepping back. "Yeah, no luck on the bridge either" the Doctor said. "What're we gonna do?" Clara asked, running her fingers through her hair. "Good que-".

He gently lifted her hand, examining the large nasty looking cut across it. Her sleeve was stained with blood, and she was looking considerably paler than before. He placed a hand on her face; "how did this happen?" Clara shrugged, "I just sliced it open on some metal, that's all" she said, trying to pass it off as nothing. Jenny and the others turned to face the two, exchanging awkward glances. "Clara, it's not nothing" Jenny said. "You're really not looking well".

The Doctor nodded, "She's right, we need to get you back to the TARDIS". Clara shook her head; "No, listen we need to find out what happened here" she said. "The crew of this ship has had it worse than me. We owe it to them to find out what happened. I'll be fine". Vastra and Jenny nodded, "she's right" Jenny said. "The ship's been left out here long enough". The Doctor shrugged and continued walking, the others close behind him. Clara and Jenny exchanged awkward glances.

As Esther was beginning to wake up, she felt something touch her shoulder. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up, looking around the room. A familiar looking figure was sitting on the ground a few feet away from her, smiling. "Barrett?" The figure nodded, "Hello Esther", he said; taking his hand off her shoulder. "It's good to see you up and about so to speak". "What's wrong Barrett?" she asked worriedly. "What, you mean apart from the obvious?" he asked. "I'm sorry captain; it's good to see you. It's just that-this is… a lot to take in" he answered. Esther nodded, "yeah, you're right. I'm so glad you're here" she said. Barrett stood up and took Esther's arms, helping her off the ground. "Thanks". He nodded, "Come on; we should take a look around the ship, assess the damage. Maybe some of the others survived the crash". "Yeah, good idea" she said.

The two began walking off the bridge and down the long corridor connecting it to the other main parts of the ship.

While they were walking, Strax took a device from his armour and began to slide his hand across the screen. Without stopping, the Doctor turned his head to see what the noise was. "Strax, what are you doing?" Strax looked up from his device, "Scanning for possible life signs, sir" he answered. "Yes, good idea" the Doctor pointed out.

They finally reached a main section of the shuttle; after only a few minutes of walking. They all stopped in front of the set of double doors ahead of them, everyone turning to face the Doctor. He took his sonic out of his pocket and raised it to the doors, holding the button down and directing it down the middle cut-off section of the set of doors. The doors slid open, revealing a generously sized room, brightly lit by the ship's large and notably intact engine. "Ah, engineering" the Doctor pointed out, smiling. Clara raised an eyebrow, "why are you so cheerful?" "Because this; is where we'll get our answers" he said, before throwing his sonic into the air and walking forwards into engineering. Clara shrugged and followed him in, the others close behind her.

As soon as they walked in, the Doctor was already examining the engine; and since none of them knew what else to do, they just stood around and let him do what he needed to do. After a few seconds Vastra decided to go join him, Strax trailing behind her in case there was anything he could do to help them out. Jenny and Clara were left leaning against the wall; exchanging awkward looks as they stood watching the others. "So… we just gonna stand around until they're finished?" Clara asked. Jenny shrugged, "I guess so". Clara smiled sarcastically, "Great". Jenny smirked. "Ah!" Clara steadied herself on the wall, clutching the cut on her hand. "Clara, are you alright?" Jenny asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her. She shook her head, the colour from her face being drained more every minute. Jenny looked over at the others, "Doctor!"

The Doctor sat his sonic down on a panel next to the engine railing and turned around, "yes?" "Clara's getting worse" she yelled back. The Doctor leaned around the corner of the engine and saw her sitting with her back against the wall, looking pale and faint. "Can you finish off here?" "Yes, of course" Vastra answered. The Doctor nodded, "Good" he said, handing her his sonic and walking over to Clara and Jenny.

The Doctor kneeled in front of Clara and gently placed a hand on her face, "hey, how are you feeling?" She looked up at him, but didn't have the energy to answer. He nodded and stood up, before she reached her hand up and lightly held onto his arm. He turned around and sat with her, holding her hand. "Hey, you'll be fine" he said softly, before getting back up and walking over to the others. "Strax, would you look after her?" Strax took his scanner from his armour, "of course sir". Strax walked over to the two women, and the Doctor continued his scans of the ship's engine.

Esther and Barrett walked through the dimly lit hallway connecting the bridge to the crew quarters. They reached Naomi Blackwood's quarters, and the first thing they noticed was the absence of her room's door. "Shall we?" Barrett asked. Esther nodded and the two of them entered Naomi's room. As soon as they stepped in, a large piece of metal came flying at them from the other side of the room; "Esther, down!" Barrett yelled, pulling her to the ground. A soft voice echoed from the other side of the room, "Commander Barrett?"

Barrett stood up and walked closer to the voice, "Naomi? Is that you?" he asked, trying to locate her. Within seconds, a young girl in a spacesuit had wrapped herself around Barrett and was crying into his uniform. He put his arms around her and spoke reassuringly, "It's ok Naomi, you're safe". She quickly released her grip on him and straightened herself, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry Commander, I'm just really glad you're both ok" she said. "It's fine Naomi; is anyone else with you?" Barrett asked. She shook her head, "No sir, I haven't seen anyone else. I… I couldn't find Riley either" she said sadly. "Where was he when the ship crashed?" Barrett asked. Naomi shrugged, "Well, he was standing next to me at the main centre control panel; but when I woke up after the crash he was gone". "In that case, there's a chance he's still alive" Barrett said. "But… how could he just leave us here?" Naomi asked. Barrett shook his head, "I don't know; but I'm sure he had a pretty good reason". Naomi nodded. "Come on, we'll go look for him" Barrett said, walking out of the room. Naomi picked up her helmet, and followed by Esther she walked close behind Barrett.

"Have you found anything yet?" Jenny called out to the others. The Doctor poked his head around the corner of the engine, a pile of wires in one hand and his sonic in the other, "I think we're getting somewhere" he yelled back. "How's Clara?" Strax spoke up, "Asleep sir, we should probably keep our voices do-"

"Oi, Strax!" Jenny scolded quietly, cutting him off mid sentence. "Yes; of course, sorry sir" Strax answered. Jenny raised an eyebrow, "Sir?" The Doctor rolled his eyes at the two, "Ssshh!" Jenny folded her arms and went back to leaning against the wall, still glaring at Strax.

The three reached Riley's quarters, and Barrett, with a stray piece of metal from the wall forced the door open. "Hey Riley, you in here?" He stepped into the room, feeling around the edge of the wall for the light controls. Within seconds the room was lit up, and they could clearly see Riley wasn't in there. "I'm sorry Naomi; I got your hopes up". She shook her head, "No, don't be sorry. It was worth a look". "We should go" Barrett said. They were about to leave when Naomi noticed something out of place in his room, "Hold on a minute" she said, stepping back into the room.

She walked over to the side of his bed and pointed at the spare place in his storage shelf. "His mission bag's gone" she said. Esther nodded, "you're right Naomi, it is". "What does that mean?" Barrett asked. Naomi turned to face them, "It means Riley's been here. He's gone".

Jenny was standing against the door, looking over at the others examining the ship's engine. Strax wasn't doing much; he was more there so that it looked like he was actually doing something to help out. But it wasn't like Jenny couldn't tell he was a bit lost with what he was supposed to be doing. She looked down at Clara who was still looking quite pale. She was still asleep, and she definitely looked like she needed the rest. Jenny decided there wasn't much else she could do just standing there watching over her, so she walked over to the others to see if they were making any progress.

The Doctor didn't look up from what he was doing, but he could tell she was there. "Hello Jenny" he said grinning. She waved and picked up a mess of wires sitting next to him on the side panel. "This is Earth material? It looks pretty advanced" she said. The Doctor nodded, "Yes, I agree". Her facial expression turned to a confused one, "what's Strax doing?"

The Doctor looked over at him; he was fiddling with a pile of wires still attached to the core of the engine. "Strax, are you insane?" he asked sarcastically, walking over and taking the pile of wires from him and placing them back in their correct position. "Sir; I was-assisting".

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Well; in future, don't". Jenny smirked. The four of them heard screams from behind them and immediately turned around, to the sight of Clara being dragged out of the room. The Doctor jumped down from the railing and ran towards the door, "Clara!"

Her screams echoed from the hallway, and by the time the Doctor reached the door, she was already out of sight. The others came into view behind him, and watched as he ran down the hallway after her. He could no longer hear her. She; along with who—or whatever had taken her were gone. He ran his fingers through his hair and lowered his head in frustration, "Clara…"


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor stood with his head against the wall, enraged that he hadn't been able to stop Clara from being dragged away. The others stood silently a few feet away, giving him space. "Who-or rather _what_ took her?" Jenny asked. "Another of those creatures I would presume" Vastra said. The Doctor still hadn't moved. He continued to stand with his head against the wall, wondering how his best friend had just been dragged off without him being able to do anything about it. Vastra firmly put a hand on his shoulder, "Doctor, you will get her back; but standing here sulking won't do her any good". He nodded, pushing himself off the wall and heading off down the hall. "Do you think he'll be alright?" Jenny asked. "He's the Doctor" Vastra said. Jenny smiled, "yeah, good point".

"We had best follow him" Vastra said, walking after him. Jenny and Strax walked close behind them.

"Where could Riley have gone?" Esther asked. Naomi shook her head, "I'm not sure… you don't think; he went outside do you?"

"It's possible" Barrett said. "Why? What would be wrong with that?" Naomi shrugged, "Well I mean; we don't know what it's like out there. What if it's danger-" Esther interrupted her, "dangerous? Naomi, it's paradise out there. I've seen it; we all have". "Well… not exactly" Naomi said awkwardly. "It doesn't matter _where_ he is" Barrett pointed out. "All that matters is he's not here; he's only about your age Naomi, we just need to find him". Esther nodded, "I agree". "I think it would be best if we searched the ship before we jumped to conclusions" Barrett said. "If we can't find him; _then_ we'll search outside".

Esther and Naomi agreed with him, and the three of them began searching the quarters of various crew members, also looking for any other crew members who may have survived the crash.

The Doctor had set a pretty fast pace for the others to keep up with, but at the moment he didn't really care; he just wanted to find Clara. Strax was about to say something, but Jenny shot him a look. "Not now Strax". Strax put a hand out as if to tell her to leave it to him. "Don't _worry_ , I've got this-sir, you appear to be panicking". Vastra put a hand over her face, "Strax, for goodness sake". The Doctor didn't say anything. For a few moments there was an awkward silence.

"I'm not _panicking_ Strax. Well, maybe a little". "Not to worry sir; you have taught Miss Clara well. She will be fine" Strax said, being surprisingly reassuring. Jenny raised an eyebrow, "yes… well; thank you Strax" the Doctor said.

"This ship's a lot bigger than I thought it would be" Jenny said. Vastra nodded, "yes, I agree". After a few more minutes of walking, the Doctor came to a stop at the start one of the halls. "What is it?" Vastra asked.

He knelt down on the ground and took out his sonic. He began scanning a dark red coloured liquid that trailed on for several feet ahead of them. "That what I think it is?" Jenny asked. The Doctor stood up, saying nothing and leaned an arm against the wall. He nodded; "It's blood".

"Get off me!" Clara yelled, trying to break away from the grip of whatever had dragged her several metres away from engineering-and her friends. She'd gotten a brief glimpse of it in the struggle; it looked like the creature they had found injured in the forest. Her attempts only made the creature tighten its grasp on her arms, and within seconds she was too weak to continue struggling in its grip.

It dragged her further down one of the ship's halls, before stopping in front of a set of doors and releasing its grip on her arms; keeping its eyes fixed on her as it walked back, to ensure she didn't try to run. The creature swung its arm at the control pad on the wall, opening both the doors. Clara ducked her head down, avoiding the sparks that came flying out from the now half destroyed control pad next to the set of doors.

She slowly lifted her head up, looking ahead at the open set of double doors, quickly shielding her eyes from the sudden flash of bright light coming in through the open doors. _Sunlight?_ She thought to herself; trying to see through the glare of light that was coming in through the doors. She started to panic. _No… no; I can't be outside. The others will never find me_ , she thought to herself. She put both arms in front of her, attempting to push herself up off the ground. The creature immediately turned around.

Clara froze. She very slowly began sitting up, but the creature reacted quickly; it got a firm hold on her arms and pushed her back down. "No! Please, let me go!"

The creature began dragging her outside; as she continued to struggle in its grip. "Get off me!...DOCTOR!"

The Doctor and the others heard Clara cry out, and quickly began running down the corridor to find her.

They reached the ship's entrance, and watched as the creature dragged her outside, quickly smashing the door controls with its arm. "Clara!" She looked up and stared at him hopelessly; tears rolling down her face before the doors slammed shut.

The Doctor ran over to the now closed set of doors, fiddling with the control pad in an effort to get it working again. After a few failed attempts, he stood back and looked desperately at the others. They stood silently, giving him a few seconds to think the situation over. Angered, he ran his fingers through his hair, before slamming his hand against the wall. "Doctor, stop. That isn't gonna help her" Jenny said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Strax walked over to the doors, gun extended. The Doctor turned his head, "Strax, what are you doing?"

He raised his gun so that it was level to the wall, "assisting; sir" he said before there was a bright flash and the doors flew off the wall. The others stood with their jaws dropped. The Doctor nodded, "that… is a plan". The four of them ran outside to find Clara and the creature.

"Riley… are you here?" Naomi called out through the hall. She shook her head. "No, of course not". Barrett came running down the hall, "Esther, Naomi look who I ran into". "Chief Ashworth?"

He nodded, "nice to see you got through all this alive captain". "Yeah, you too chief". "Where's my son?" he asked. Naomi cut in, "now that's the thing chief Ashworth, he's not with us". "What? Where is he then?". "We're not sure chief" Esther answered. "But we've been looking for him for the last half an hour. His bag's missing… we think he may have left the ship".

"Left the ship?" "Hey, let's not jump to conclusions here" Barrett added. "Maybe he just got frightened-and ran to another part of the ship". Ashworth raised an eyebrow, "what are you implying commander? That my son's a coward?" "Whoa, no one's saying Riley's a coward" Naomi said, trying to dismiss the thought from their heads.

Ashworth began walking off. "Chief, where are you going?" Esther asked. He turned his head, "to _find_ my son".

The Doctor and the others began running at a fast pace, following the track of drag marks Clara and the creature were leaving in the ground's soft soil.

"Can you see them?" Jenny yelled to the Doctor, who was running ahead of everyone else. "No, not yet" he called back.

They could hear cries out ahead of them and kept a fast pace. The Doctor _wasn't_ happy.

Clara's back was aching. She'd been dragged through the ship's halls and now several meters of forest for who knows how long. She could hear fast footsteps behind them. She could see the Doctor and the others running fast behind them and took what might be her only opportunity, "DOCTOR! Please, get this…thing..off me!" She yelled out.

"We're coming Clara!" He called back.

The creature let out a loud cry; it released its grip on Clara and ran over close to where the others were. It threw its arms out at a tall tree in front of them and managed to rip it from the ground. It was loose in the soil, and slowly started falling towards the others.

"Get back!" The Doctor yelled. He quickly backed away, pulling the others along with him and watched as the tree's large trunk blocked their only path to Clara and the creature.

The creature took Clara by the arms and continued dragging her further into the forest. It seemed to have a pretty good idea of where it was going.

The others stood breathing heavily, staring ahead of them. Vastra shook her head; "we've lost them…"

 _ **So... that was chapter 5 ! I'd love to hear what you guys think of the story so far, it's been super fun to write and I really appreciate the awesome reviews I've been getting** **Anyway**_ _**thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review !**_


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